Method of assembling mechanical refrigerators



Aug. 31, 1943. G. L. c. EARLE METHODS OF ASSEMBLING MECHANICAL REFRIGERATORS Filed Feb. 10, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mm N /Nl ENTO? GUYON LCJEARLE gal/M14;

A TTORNEV Patented Aug. 31, 1943 METHOD OF ASSEMBLING MECHANICAL REFRIGEBATOBS Guyon L. 0. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to Genevieve M. Earle, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application February 10, 1940, Serial No. 318,224

3 Claims.

This application relates to refrigerators and more specifically but not necessarily to refrigerators adapted to be built into kitchens and to methods of assemblying them.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved methods for assembling a mechanical refrigerator unit.

In Patent 2,180,460, issued November 21, 1939,

to Guyon L. C, Earle, there is disclosed a mechanical refrigerator having a relatively large bottom portion adapted to be refrigerated, a smaller upper refrigerated portion the front of which is set back from the front of the bottom portion, and a table to member located above the bottom portion and in front of the top portion. The upper portion is preferably partly divided into two compartments by a vertical partition member, one of these compartments containing the cooling coil and a plurality of ice cube trays and the other compartment containing shelves for articles which are to be maintained in a cold condition,

There is briefly described in Patent 2,180,459, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle, and more fully in a copending application of the same inventor, Serial No. 318,223, filed February 10, 1940, and which issued as Patent No. 2,312,325 on March 2, 1943, a refrigerator of the type having an upper set-back portion in which the lower portion is closed by a plurality of drawers or similar closure members. The present invention provides a method of mounting the cooling unit in refrigerators of this type during the assembling process.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of assembling the cooling unit within a refrigerator of the type described above by making the upper and lower portions of the refrigerator in separate pieces, mounting the cooling unit within the upper portion, and then fastening the upper portion to the lower portion, the tubes from the evaporator unit to the liquefying unit passing through a gasket between the two units. Preferably the evaporator unit, the liquefying unit and the tubes therebetween comprise a sealed refrigerating unit and this unit is mounted in the refrigerator without breaking the tube connections.

This latter object is accomplished by placing the evaporator unit of a sealed refrigerating unit within the upper set-back portion of the refrigerator, fastening it therein, mounting the liquefying unit outside both upper and lower portions of the refrigerator (preferably at the side of the lower portion) without breaking the tube connections between the evaporator and liquefying units, and securing the upper portion of the refrigerator to the lower portion thereof in such a manner that the tubes from the evaporator unit passes between the two portions of the refrigerator.

In the preferred embodiment of this invention, there is provided a refrigerator unit comprising upper and lower portions arranged together so that the front wall of the upper portion is set back from and is preferably parallel to the bottom front wall. A table top member is mounted on top of that part of the bottom portion of the refrigerator unit not covered by the top portion of the refrigerator unit, which in the preferred embodiment is both in front of and to the side of the upper portion of the refrigerator, In a modification, the top portion of the unit is divided into two compartments one of which is made substantially deeper than the other so that the deeper compartment projects beyond the rear of the other compartment and of the lower portion of the refrigerator. The single upper compartment of the preferred embodiment or the deeper upper compartment of the modification contains the cooling unit and, within the coils thereof, a plurality of ice cube trays placed behind an inner door. The other compartment in the upper portion of the modification is adapted to be refrigerated and contains racks for small articles such as eggs, cheese, etc. Above the top portion of the refrigerator itself is a cabinet the front of which preferably pro- Jects beyond the front of the upper portion of the refrigerator but which is set-back from the front of the lower portion thereof. In the bottom of the refrigerator is a large and deep refrigerated space which is preferably closed by a number of sliding closure members such as drawers and the like. Below this refrigerated space may be a compartment for the liquefying unit of the electrical refrigerator (or the equivalent apparatus for the gas type mechanical refrigerator) although this compartment may be included inthe refrigerated space and the liquefying unit located elsewhere, as, for example, beneath the sink if a sink unit is located adjacent the refrigerator unit. The liquefying unit is preferably mounted on a base insulated for quiet.

In assembling the above described unit, the lower portion is made up and mounted on the recessed base. The cooling unit is then placed in the deep upper compartment and fastened therein. The upper member is then mounted on the lower member, being separated therefrom by gaskets, and preferably fastened to the lower member by any suitable means. The tubes leading to the cooling unit from the liquefying unit are brought out preferably through a side or rear gasket without breaking connection between the iiquefying and evaporating units. The table top member, ifit is other than the finished top of the bottom portion of the refrigerator, is then mounted on top of the bottom portion and in front of the upper portion.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring to the following descriptionand the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a kitchen unit embodying a novel refrigerator assembled in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-sectional view through the evaporator unit of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a modification of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1, the refrigerator being placed next to a sink to make a unit therewith;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the unit shown in Fig. 3 taken through the left hand portion of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of Fig. 4. showing a novel arrangement for loosening theinner door and the ice cube trays from their supporting shelves;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of a modification of the refrigerator shown in the unit of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation View taken from the right hand side of the unit of Fig. 3, with parts broken away.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig, 1 shows a kitchen unit 3 in which the novel refrigerator of this invention is a part. The unit l comprises a refrigerator unit H, a sink unit l2, a stove unit l3, wall cabinets I4, and a common table top member I5. I

The refrigerator H comprises a lower portion I6 which is preferably closed by four drawers ll, l8, I9, 20 (although it is to be understood that any number of drawers or one relatively large door may be used instead), and an upper portion 2|, The upper drawers [1, l8 and I9 may contain foraminated bottoms, as indicated in the pulled out drawer IT in Fig. 1, to allow the circulation of air therebetween. As a modification, each drawer may consist of a hollow frame. supporting a plurality of removable trays, the two outside trays each containing a roller member which rides along a track the rear portion of which is sloped downwardly and rearwardly so that the drawer is assisted in closing by this gravity pull which also serves to keep the drawer closed until force is applied to open it. For a more complete description of this drawer briefly described above reference may be made to a copending application of Guyon L. C.

Earle, Serial No. 318,223, filed February 10', 1940, and which issued as Patent 2,312,325 on March 2, 1943.

The upper portion 2| contains the evaporator 22, the coils of which are shown in the horizontal cross-sectional view of Fig. 2. Cold air from the evaporator 22 is caused to circulate through the lower portion Hi, the width and depth of which are substantially larger than the width and depth of the upper portion 2|, in a manner similar to the operation of the refrigerator described in Patent 2,180,460, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. C. Earle. Included within the space bounded by the coils 22 are the ice cube trays 23, 24 and 25. While only three ice cube trays have been shown, it is obvious that a larger or smaller number may be provided as desired, An insulated door 26 preferably closes the compartment 2|.

In accordance with this invention, the upper portion 2| overhangs the rear of the lower portion l6 and projects into the wall of the kitchen preferably between adjacent studs 21 and 28 (see Fig. 2). In this figure the table top member I is shown in front of and to the side of the compartment 2| and .terminates in a splash back member 29 which is placed against the plaster coating P of the kitchen wall. .As the refrigerator is shown in this figure as being in a corner of the room, the plaster coating W of the end wall is also shown. The coating C behind the studs 21 and 28 is a portion of the wall of the room behind the kitchen. By projecting the upper portion 2| of the refrigerator back into the wall of the room, preferably between adjacent studs, as much as three more inches of desirable table space may be obtained in front of the upper portion 2| without decreasing the size thereof. By placing the evaporator unit 22 entirely in the upper portion 2|, all of the lower portion l6 can be used as refrigerated storage space. As pointed out in the copending Earle application mentioned above, the use of drawers instead of one large door permits the storage of an unusually large amount of food.

It is a feature of this invention that the upper portion 2| is made into a unit and the lower portion I6 is made into a second unit. Then the evaporator is placed inside the upper portion through the relatively large opening in the bottom thereof It is then fastened within the upper portion 2! and the upper portion 2| mounted on and fastened to the lower portion Hi. This permits the refrigerator to be finally assembled at the place where it is to be used without disconnecting the liquefying unit from the evaporator (if desired) and makes it possible to install an evaporator larger than the distance between adjacent drawers after the lower portion I6 has been completely made and, even more important, makes it possible to take the evaporator, 22 out of the refrigerator (or if desired, the entire upper portion 2|) without sending the whole refrigerator back to the factory or take out .the complete refrigerating unit in the situation where it is a completely factory sealed unit and something goes wrong with it.

The refrigerator II is positioned next to a sink unit l2 which includes a sink 30, a water supply 3|, a plurality of closure members 32 to 31, inclusive, which may be drawers, doors, or sliding members containing racks for towels, etc. Within the compartment 38 behind the door 34 (which is preferably hinged at the bottom) is a liquefying unit 39 for the refrigerator. This unit 39 is connected to the evaporator 22 by flexible tubes 40 (not shown in this figure but shown in Fig. 2). The liquefyer 39 may be a part of either an electric or gas unit and it may be placed in any other convenient spot (such as behind the door 31, for example), if desired, instead of in the compartment 38. The table top I5 serves as a drainboard for the sink 30.

On the other side of the sink 30 is placed the stove unit I 3. This unit preferably comprises upper burners 4|, an oven compartment 42, a broiler compartment 43, a plurality of drawers 44 to 41 (which may be simply cabinet drawers and not part of the stove at all) and controls 48' for the burners on top of the stove and in the oven. The burners 4| are preferably set into the table top member l5. While a conventional stove has been shown (the stove per se being no part of this invention) it is obvious that a set-back stove of the type disclosed and claimed in Patent 2,180,459, issued November 21, 1939, to Guyon L. 'C. Earle, may be used instead.

Above the upper portion 2| of the refrigerator and preferably projecting out in front of it are cabinets 50, GI and 52 having doors 53 to 88 therefor. These cabinets may have any desired type or types of shelves therein. While the fronts of all the doors have been shown in a single plane it is obvious that in cut-corner" kitchens, they may be in two or more planes.

Reference will now be made to Figs. 3, 4 and 7 which show a modification of a portion of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1. In these figures there is shown a combined refrigerator and sink unit 60 comprising a refrigerator 8| having a lower portion I52, an upper portion 83 and a table top member 64, and a sink 85, the liquefying unit 88 for the refrigerator 6| being placed below the sink.

The lower portion 82 includes a plurality of upper drawers 61 and a lower drawer 68, the lower drawer 68 being preferably made larger than the others to accommodate bottles, etc. The upper one of the drawers 81 may have a defrosting tray I84 put in it when desired. The bottoms of the drawers (with the exception, perhaps, of the lower drawer 68) are preferably made with holes therein or of mesh material so as not to impede the circulation of cold air from the evaporator 88 in the upper portion. A deflecting member Ill to assist in the circulation of air is shown but this member may be replaced by a fan, flue or duct or omitted entirely, as desired. The top one of the drawers 61 may serve as the cold distributing member. Unlike the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, the lower portion 62 of the refrigerator projects back into the wall between adjacent studs S and thus the rear wall II of the lower portion 62 is in the same plane as the rear wall I2 of the upper portion 53. Preferably (as shown in Fig. '7) the rear wall of the sink unit does not project back into the wall at all and in fact may even be set out from the wall to permit the passage of pipes between the wall of the room and the back of the sink unit. It is to be understood, of course, that it is within the scope of this invention to provide a refrigerator unit in which both upper and lower portions project back into the wall of the room but by different amounts.

The upper portion 63 of the refrigerator contains the evaporator 89 within the coils of which are arranged any convenient number of ice cube trays I3 supported by shelves 14. An outer door I5 closes the upper compartment 83 of the refrigerator to which is attached by a toggle l6 and a spring ll (see Fig. 5 for an enlarged view) an pass out the side or back of the unit through a gasket 84 between the upper and lower portions of the refrigerator. As explained above with respect to Fig. 1, the evaporator 88 is fastened within the upper portion 83 and then the upper portion is placed on the gaskets 84 and fastened to the lower portion 82. Thus if trouble should occur after installation a whole new upper portion containing a new evaporator unit can be installed without disturbing the lower portion (or, of course, a new evaporator could be installed in the old upper portion or a complete new refrigerating unit could be installed).

Reference will now be made to Fig. (which illustrates more clearly the method of assembling a sealed refrigerating unit in a refrigerator of the type having an upper set-back portion. This figure is a side elevation of the unit shown in Fig. 3 taken from the righthand side of the unit. Parts of the side walls I38 and I3I of the upper and lower portions of the sink unit and of the wall I32 betweenthe upper portions of the sink and refrigerator units, respectively, have been broken away to show the evaporator unit 69 in the upper portion of the refrigerator unit (in the upper left hand portion of Fig. 3), the liquefying unit 86 (in the lower right hand portion of Fig. 3), tubes 83 between the evaporator and liquefying units, which pass through gasket 84 between the upper and lower portions of the refrigerator unit, and the sink 85 with a portion of its associated plumbing. The back wall I2 of the upper portion and the back wall II of the lower portion of the refrigerator are behind the wall I33 of the kitchen while the back wall I34 of the sink unit, having a relatively large opening I35 therein, is in front of the wall I33. During the assembly process, which in the case of large units preferably takes place in the kitchen, the lower cabinet portions of the refrigerator and sink units are placed in position (if desird, with the rear of the lower portion of the refrigerator unit, or of both refrigerator and sink units, projecting back into the wall of the room), the evaporator unit 69 is placed within and secured in its proper position within the upper portion of the refrigerator unit (the tubes 83 not being disassembled during this step, nor, for that matter, during the entire process of assembling), the upper portion of the inner door 18 having a plurality of horizontal rib members I9 positioned to engage lips 80 on the ice cube trays 13. An upwardly curving elbow member 8| is fastened to the outer door 15 and supports the inner door I8. Assume that the ice cube trays I3 are frozen to their shelves I4 and that the inner door I8 closing the ice cube tray compartment is also frozen to its jamb. The opening of the outer door 15 will exert tension on the spring Tl tending to pull the door 18 open. Moreover when the upwardly projectin portion 82 of the elbow 8| engages the inner door I8, the latter will be given a sharp upward thrust which causes the ribs I9 to engage the lips 80 of the ice cube trays 13 thus freeing them from their supporting shelves 14. The combination of the forces exerted by the spring I1 and the upward thrust of the door I8 tends to free this door from its jamb. When the outer door I5 is closed, the spring 11 forces the inner door I8 closed also.

The evaporator 69 is connected to the liquefying unit 66 by means of flexible tubes 83 which refrigerator is mounted on the lower portion thereof with the gasket 84 therebetween through which the tubes 83 pass, and the liquefying unit 68 is secured in the bottom of the cabinet of the sink unit. The liquefying unit 86 may be placed in position through the top of the lower portion of the sink cabinet (before the sink has been put in place and its Plumbing connected) in the case where the tube connections 83 passv out of the side of the refrigerator unit as shown in Fig. 7, or through the opening I 35 in the back wall I 34 of the sink cabinet when the tubes 83 pass out of the back of the refrigerator unit, as indicated in Fig. 4. The table top 84 and the sink 65 may then be put in position and fastened and the plumbing for the sink 65 connected. Obvously, the gasket 84 may be of one piece and form a part of the apparatus accompanying the sealed refrigerating unit or be made of several pieces and put together in the kitchen. In this latter situation, packing material may be desirable around the holes through which the tubes 83 pass. It is obvious that the order of performing certain of the steps given above may be varied. By means of this method of assembly, the services of a skilled refrigerator installation mechanic are not necessary as any person capable of installing the cabinets is capable of assembling the refrigerator also.

The table top member 64, in addition to serving as a support for articles being placed in and taken out of the refrigerator serves as the drainboard of the sink 65. A faucet 90 supplies water to the sink 65. The waste 9| is located in the bottom of the sink. For simplicity of illustration, the plumbing for the sink has not been shown.

Behind and above the sink is a cabin t 92 closed by a door 93 which cabinet may be sad for storage purposes, as part of the refrigerator or, as described in a copending application of Guyon L. C. Earle, Serial No. 314,402, filed January 18, 1940, utilized as a dish washing and drying compartment. Preferably this cabinet does not project back into the wall. Below the sink 65 is a space 94 which may be utilized for storage or, as described in the last mentioned Earle application, used as a towel rack. The entire unit is mounted on a recessed base 95.

Above the upper portion 63 of the refrigerator 6i and set forward from the front of the refrigerator upper portion is arranged a cabinet 96 closed by doors 9! and 98. This cabinet has shelves 99 to I02 therein, the fronts of the shelves I .and I02 being shown as set-back from the fronts of the shelves 99 and If. Obviously, any type of shelves may be used, as desired. The doors 9'! and 98 may provide an overhang behind which may be located one or more sofilt lights I03 which may be actuated by hand or by opening a door. Obviously, similar lights may also be provided in the lower portion of the refrigerator. If

desired, and by proper insulation, the cabinet space 96 or a portion of it may be used as refrigerated storage space.

In Fig. 6, a modification of the invention of Fig. 1 is shown in horizontal cross-section. In the arrangement of Fig. 6, the upper portion N0 of the refrigerator comprises an ice cube tray compartment III having an evaporator Ii2 therein and an upper refrigerated compartment II3 to the side thereof. A common jamb H4 is provided for the two doors H5 and H6 although one or more drawers may be used instead of the door H6. Th compartment III projects back into the wall between adjacent studs I I1 and i I8. Portions of the wall I I9 of the kitchen and of the wall I20 of the room behind the kitchen are shown. The table top I2I is located in front of both compartments II I and H3 and on top of the lower portion of the refrigerator which may be similar to the lower portion of the refrigerator shown in Fig. 1, the width of the two compartments III and H3 together being equal to, less than or more than the width of the lower portion of the refrigerator, as desired.

Suitable insulation is provided for all walls, doors, tops bottoms and drawer fronts of the refrigerators of this invention. Any convenient materials may be used. The insulation is thickened adjacent the front lower portion of the bottom drawer because of the recessed base 95.

Obviously, many modifications may be made in the embodiments described above without departing from the spirit of this invention, the

scopeof which is indicated by the appended claims. In the claims the terms deep and narrow have reference to the horizontal dimension at right angles to the front planes of the asaaiao unit. Moreover, it will be understood that the claims are not to be construed as limited to the steps recited therein being performed in the order given.

What is claimed is:

1. The method of assembling at the site where it is to be used a mechanical refrigerator including a relatively deep lower portion having an opening in the upper part thereof, a relatively narrow upper portion having an opening in the lower part thereof of substantially the same size as the opening in said lower portion, and a sealed refrigerating unit including an evaporator unit, a liquefying unit and tubes for the flow of refrigerant between these units, without disassembling the tube connections between the evaporator and liquefying units, which comprises placing and securing within said upper portion said evaporator unit, positioning said liquefying unit outside of both of said portions of the refrigerator, placing the upper portion on the lower portion in such a way that the two openings coincide and the said tubes pass between said two portions, and securing said upper portion to said lower portion.

2. The method of assemblin at the site where it is to be used a mechanical refrigerator including a relatively deep lower portion having an opening in the upper part thereof, a relatively narrow upper portion having an opening in the lower part thereof of substantially the same size as the opening in said lower portion, and a sealed refrigerating unit including an evaporator unit, a liquefying unit and tubes for the flow of refrigerant between these units, without disassembling the tube connections between the evaporator and liquefying units, which comprises placing and securing Within said upper portion said evaporator unit, positioning said liquefying unit outside of both of said portions of the refrigerator, placing the upper portion on the lower portion in such a way that the two openings coincide and the said tubes pass between said two portions, said portions and said openings therein being so arranged that a part, at least, of the upper portion projects back to a plane which is beyond the rear plane of the lower portion of the refrigerator, and securing said upper portion to said lower portion.

3. The method of assembling at the site where it is to be used a mechanical refrigerator includ ing a relatively deep lower portion having an opening in the upper part thereof, a relatively narrow upper portion having an opening in the lower part thereof of substantially the same size as the opening in said lower portion, and a sealed refrigerating unit including an evaporator unit, a liquefying unit and tubes for the flow of refrigerant between these units, without disassembling the tube connections between the evaporator and liquefying units, which comprises placing and securing within said upper portion said evaporator unit, positioning said liquefying unit outside of both of said portions of the refrigerator, placing the upper portion on the lower portion in such a way that the two openings coincide and the said tubes pass between said two portions, and securing said upper portion to said lower portion, said refrigerator being positioned so that at least the rear part of the upper portion projects back into the wall of the room containing the refrigerator.

GUYON L. C. EARLE. 

